A rail vehicle, such as a locomotive that propels a group of rolling stock on a railroad track, is operated by a crew of multiple people. For example, a locomotive that is traveling on a main line railroad is typically operated by a crew of at least two people. In one example, a two-person crew includes an engineer and a conductor. The engineer drives the locomotive, for example by controlling speed and handling of the locomotive. On the other hand, the conductor manages operation of freight or passenger cars as well as various other types of railroad operations, such as track switching, and the like.
However, under some conditions, implementing a crew of two or more people to operate a locomotive is an inefficient use of labor resources. For example, during travel on the main line, the engineer performs a majority of the operational tasks while the conductor occasionally performs another railroad related task. In some cases, the engineer is prevented from performing tasks that are carried out by the conductor, because the engineer is required to have authority over the locomotive while on traveling on the main line by operating the controls, which are located in the locomotive cabin. Thus, the engineer is relegated to staying in the locomotive cabin while traveling on the main line, when they otherwise are capable of performing tasks carried out by the conductor.